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Hermès heirs at odds
Wealth manager Éric Freymond and his former client Nicolas Puech, heir to the Hermès Group. © Photomontage by Glitz – Sources: Bernard Bisson (SIPA), Friends of the domaine de Chantilly

Running Story
Hermès heirs at odds

The target of an aborted raid by LVMH in the early 2010s, Hermès still bears the battle scars of that operation. Wealth manager Éric Freymond, who played an instrumental role in the luxury giant's takeover bid, still holds shares in the leather goods brand and remains close to several of founder Émile Hermès's heirs. The three branches of the shareholding family are seeking to isolate him.

Hermès heirs at odds
Wealth manager Éric Freymond and his former client Nicolas Puech, heir to the Hermès Group. © Photomontage by Glitz – Sources: Bernard Bisson (SIPA), Friends of the domaine de Chantilly

Front Row | Hermès affair
Lawyer for alleged shares scammer Freymond now advises fleeced heir

Jérôme Lemercier, long-time lawyer to Swiss wealth manager Éric Freymond, has switched sides to work for the latter's main alleged victim, Hermès heir Nicolas Puech. He is also a witness in the investigation into his former client's conduct.

Jérôme Lemercier, former lawyer of Éric Freymond, now advises Nicolas Puech on financial matters.
LogoSubscribers only Families 05.11.2026
Jérôme Lemercier, former lawyer of Éric Freymond, now advises Nicolas Puech on financial matters.

Missing Hermès shares
Luxembourg courts asked to look into investments of Éric Freymond's widow

Though the Swiss wealth manager tended to plough his clients' money into phantom funds, he invested his own wealth into tried-and-tested financial vehicles. One of them is now questioning where these funds came from, implying that his widow may have benefited from Freymond's dubious dealings.

Xavier de Marmol, left, a close acquaintance of the late Swiss wealth manager, and Éric Freymond's widow Caroline Freymond, right.
LogoSubscribers only Families 01.10.2026
Xavier de Marmol, left, a close acquaintance of the late Swiss wealth manager, and Éric Freymond's widow Caroline Freymond, right.

Hermès affair
French investigating magistrates turn attention to Geneva-based wealth managers

The Paris-based judicial investigation into the misappropriated assets of Hermès heir Nicolas Puech has summoned the Geneva financiers who, in one way or another, collaborated with late wealth manager Eric Freymond.

Eric and Caroline Freymond.
LogoSubscribers only Families 29.09.2026
Eric and Caroline Freymond.

Hermès affair
When Éric Freymond invested LVMH funds with Bernard Madoff

The questioning this summer of LVMH veteran Jean-Jacques Guiony by the judge investigating Nicolas Puech's missing Hermès shares threw up some new revelations. The former CFO of Bernard Arnault's group addressed among other things LVMH's links with the principal suspect in the Hermès affair, Éric Freymond.

Financial fiends Éric Freymond (left) and Bernard Madoff.
LogoSubscribers only Families 24.09.2026
Financial fiends Éric Freymond (left) and Bernard Madoff.

Spotlight
LVMH executive committee member quizzed by judge over missing Hermès shares

After focusing on the role of the Swiss financier Eric Freymond and his entourage, the financial division of the Paris judicial court, which for the last two years has been investigating the disappearance of Nicolas Puech's shares in Hermès, has now turned its attention to LVMH.

LVMH's former CFO Jean-Jacques Guiony has been questioned over Nicolas Puech's lost shares.
LogoSubscribers only Families 22.09.2026
LVMH's former CFO Jean-Jacques Guiony has been questioned over Nicolas Puech's lost shares.

Spotlight
High-society swindler Éric Freymond's self-serving philanthropy

A year after the wealth manager's death, French and Swiss judicial authorities are still struggling to unravel the complex financial transactions he used to defraud his many clients, including Hermès heir Nicolas Puech. Some of his schemes were dressed up as cultural initiatives, taking advantage of the extensive network Freymond had built up within the historic restoration sector.

Éric Freymond used philanthropy as a cover for his nefarious activities.
LogoSubscribers only Families 21.07.2026
Éric Freymond used philanthropy as a cover for his nefarious activities.

Spotlight | Hermès family
French magistrates investigating Éric Freymond home in on his close associates

In Geneva, Bern and Lausanne, the victims of the late wealth manager are all heading to court to try to recover the money he stole from them. In France, however, the judicial process is following a different route as the Paris Judicial Court tries to get to the bottom of the financier's predatory schemes by focusing on the various figures who worked alongside him.

French magistrates are picking their way through the labyrinth of Éric Freymond’s financial ruses by interviewing his close associates.
LogoSubscribers only Families 31.03.2026
French magistrates are picking their way through the labyrinth of Éric Freymond’s financial ruses by interviewing his close associates.

Fallout from Freymond-Hermès affair spreads to Rolex

As lawsuits from aggrieved clients pile up against wealth manager Eric Freymond's family, the affair is sparking concern within Geneva's elite business circles. The in-laws of the financier accused of embezzling several clients' fortunes are closely linked to Geneva's leading company, Rolex.

LogoSubscribers only Families 03.02.2026

Spotlight
How wealth manager Eric Freymond worked with an Abu Dhabi wealth manager favoured by African leaders

As a growing number of lawsuits against his family and partners are filed in Switzerland, Glitz is continuing to unravel the complex financial arrangements that enabled the late financier to embezzle his clients' funds, including those of the Hermès heir Nicolas Puech.

In the Emirates, Éric Freymond was working with the same financial networks as several African leaders.
LogoSubscribers only Families 27.01.2026
In the Emirates, Éric Freymond was working with the same financial networks as several African leaders.

Inside the private investment portfolios of the Hermès family

Alongside their joint investment fund Krefeld, created two years ago, the three family branches that own Hermès continue to run their own investment entities.

LogoSubscribers only Families 16.12.2025

In Focus
Hermès heir's late wealth manager hid millions in Dubai

Up until his death this July, the Swiss wealth manager Eric Freymond had been secretly transferring the accounts of his clients, who included the Hermès heir Nicolas Puech, to the United Arab Emirates. Some of the money in those accounts has since disappeared.

The financier Eric Freymond in the United Arab Emirates, the focus of opaque transactions that ultimately led to his downfall.
LogoSubscribers only Families 27.11.2025
The financier Eric Freymond in the United Arab Emirates, the focus of opaque transactions that ultimately led to his downfall.

How Éric Freymond attempted to sell Hermès shares to Qatar in his final roll of the dice

It turned out to be the last transaction that the wealth manager attempted before his death - in the spring, the elusive financier sought to pull off a final coup by selling six million Hermès shares to a financial adviser of the Qatar royal family.

LogoSubscribers only Families 28.10.2025

Late Swiss asset manager Freymond switched residency to Italy, complicating assets recovery

Éric Freymond's swindled clients and creditors are facing a major legal battle to recover their assets. The Swiss national had in 2019 transferred his residence and tax domicile, further complicating attempts at assets recovery.

LogoSubscribers only Families 14.10.2025

The mysterious deal between Gianni Agnelli's former lover and an Hermès heir's wealth manager

Battling numerous lawsuits at the time of his sudden death in July, wealth manager Eric Freymond, accused of embezzling the fortune of an Hermès heir, had nevertheless managed to negotiate a confidential settlement with one of the individuals suing him just before his demise.

LogoSubscribers only Families 30.09.2025

Spotlight
Probe into Nicolas Puech's missing Hermès shares continues despite main suspect's death

The sudden death of asset manager Eric Freymond in July has not ended the judicial probe in France into the six million Hermès shares he was accused of stealing from his client Nicolas Puech, the great-grandson of Émile Hermès.

The key figures in the scandal engulfing Hermès (from left): Éric Freymond, Nicolas Puech and Bernard Arnault.
LogoSubscribers only Families 23.09.2025
The key figures in the scandal engulfing Hermès (from left): Éric Freymond, Nicolas Puech and Bernard Arnault.

Family of Hermès heir's late wealth manager Éric Freymond close down store and gallery amid seizure threats

A few weeks after the brutal death of the wealth manager Éric Freymond, his family announced to friends that the Menus Plaisirs store in Gstaad was to close, along with the Espace Muraille gallery in Geneva.

LogoSubscribers only Families 02.09.2025

In Focus
The last confession of Eric Freymond, the shadow financier in the missing Hermès shares scandal

A few weeks before throwing himself onto the railway tracks near his chalet in Gstaad on the morning of 23 July, the Swiss asset manager Freymond agreed to meet with journalist Philippe Vasset, editor-in-chief of Glitz, for Revue XXI magazine.

Implicated in the Hermès affair, the Swiss businessman Éric Freymond committed suicide on 23 July at the age of 67.
LogoSubscribers only Families 31.07.2025
Implicated in the Hermès affair, the Swiss businessman Éric Freymond committed suicide on 23 July at the age of 67.

Spotlight
War over six million missing Hermès shares goes nuclear

Legal pressure is being piled in both France and Switzerland on wealth manager Eric Freymond, who is accused by his former client, the Hermès heir Nicolas Puech, of misappropriating six million Hermès shares from him.

Éric Freymond and Nicolas Puech go head-to-head in a legal battle with numerous twists and turns.
LogoSubscribers only Families 03.04.2025
Éric Freymond and Nicolas Puech go head-to-head in a legal battle with numerous twists and turns.

Former Hermès wealth manager Freymond and French ex-PM Villepin boost art market ties

The exhibition of his daughter's paintings in Eric Freymond's Geneva gallery brought former prime minister Dominique de Villepin closer to the erstwhile wealth manager of the Hermès heir.

LogoSubscribers only Families 30.01.2025

Spotlight
The secret story of the 6 million Hermès shares that vanished into thin air

Glitz.paris has reconstructed the movements of the 6 million shares held by Hermès heir Nicolas Puech that mysteriously disappeared into a labyrinth of offshore accounts and Panama shell companies. The shares passed through the hands of Swiss asset managers, then LVMH finance directors, and are now beyond the reach of their owner, who is calling it the "heist of the century".

This week, Glitz.paris reveals the movements of the 6 million shares held by Hermès heir Nicolas Puech that mysteriously disappeared into a financial labyrinth.
LogoSubscribers only Families 21.11.2024
This week, Glitz.paris reveals the movements of the 6 million shares held by Hermès heir Nicolas Puech that mysteriously disappeared into a financial labyrinth.

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Wealth manager Éric Freymond and his former client Nicolas Puech, heir to the Hermès Group.

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Hermès heirs at odds

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